Comb for textile machine

ABSTRACT

The needle bar which is constituted by a rectilinear metal body having a U-shaped cross-section in which the needles are anchored by means of a bonding agent and which is provided at each end with a lug and a guide heel having a greater height than said body and projecting only on the back side of the comb body is characterized in that the assembly formed by the needle-bar body and needle-bar lugs and heels constitutes a one-piece component of die-stamped sheet steel having a U-shaped cross-section, the lugs and heels being formed by suitable portions of one of the two walls of said component, said portions being flattened by compression against the other wall of said component.

United States Patent [191 Herubel COMB FOR TEXTILE MACHINE [75] Inventor: Jean Frederic Herubel, Guebwiller,

France [73] Assignee: N. Schlumberger & Cie, Guebwiller, I-Iaut-Rhin, France [22] Filed: Oct. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 185,522

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [4 1 Jan. 29, 1974 Primary Examiner-Dorsey Newton Attorney, Agent, or FirmToren and McGeady [5 7] ABSTRACT The needle bar which is constituted by a rectilinear metal body having a U-shaped cross-section in which the needles are anchored by means of a bonding agent and which is provided at each end with a lug and a guide heel having a greater height than said body and projecting only on the back side of the comb body is characterized in that the assembly formed by the needle-bar body and needle-bar lugs and heels constitutes a one-piece component of die-stamped sheet steel having a U-shaped cross-section, the lugs and heels being formed by suitable portions of one of the two walls of said component, said portions being flattened by compression against the other wall of said component.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures COMB FOR TEXTILE MACHINE This invention relates to comb which are commonly referred-to as needle bars and are intended to be employed in textile machines known as intersecting or gilling machines for drawing slivers of fibrous materials, especially in machines for preparation or combing and spinning of worsted.

During opperation, needle bars of this type are subjected to high stresses and to a considerable number of impacts which are more destructive as the weight of the needle bar is greater. Moreover, guiding of the needle bars by means of translational motion screws must be accurate and not cause any abnormal wear of the heels of said needle bars.

The different methods of manufacture which are employed at the present time make it possible to produce needle bars which generally conform to the characteristics of modern equipment but are nevertheless attended by a large number of disadvantages which it would clearly be desirable to remove.

Thus, although needle bars having bodies and heels of solid steel exhibit good resistance to wear, such bars are no longer capable of withstanding the high speeds of intersecting machines by reason of their relatively heavy weight. The inertia of needle bars during their movement of translation and especially during their change of level within the drawing head is liable to affect the resistance and performance of the needles.

Needle bars of other known types which are fabricated from a cast plastic material have needles or points which are mounted in a metallic support and inserted or embedded in the mass but bars of this type do not have the desired rigidity. The tractive force exerted by the fibrous material which is being processed deforms the body of the needle bar, thereby increasing the friction between the heels and the guide members. Moreover, needle bars of plastic material develop static electricity in contact with the fibrous material and this latter is consequently attracted, thus causing winding of the material around the edge of the bar which is fitted with needles. At the time of cleaning and especially when material which has been wound around the needle edge is being removed, said bars of plastic material are liable to be struck by the hooks which scratch the surface of the body and roughen this latter, thus constituting points at which incipient winding of material is again liable to take place.

Needle bars of another known type comprise a body consisting of a hollow C-shaped sectional member at the ends of which are fixed either by welding or riveting flat metal end-pieces constituting core plates for the guide heels of the needle bar, plastic material being cast on this assembly in order that said metal endpieces should thus be entirely coated and in order to fill the hollow portion of the body while rigidly fixing the needles which are inserted in said body. Designs of this type are subject in particular to the following disadvantages 2 the metal end-pieces must be fixed in the body by means of an additional welding or riveting operation, at least one flange of the body must be pierced according to the density of needles to be mounted and one side of the body of the completed needle bar is formed between the arms of the C" by the plastic material which is subject to the disadvantages mentioned above.

The object of the invention is to provide a comb or needle bar for a textile machine which is not attended by the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional combs or needle bars.

To this end and in accordance with the invention, the needle bar which is constituted by a rectilinear metal body having a U-shaped cross-section in which the needles are anchored by means of a bonding agent and which is provided at each end with a lug and a guide heel having a greater height than said body and projecting only on the back side of the comb body is characterized in that the assembly formed by the needle-bar body and needle-bar lugs and heels constitutes a onepiece component of die-stamped sheet steel having a U-shaped cross-section, the lugs and heels being formed by suitable portions of one of the two walls of said component, said portions being flattened by compression against the other wall of said component.

Compared with the comb formed of solid steel, the comb in accordance with the invention is of much smaller weight and consequently has a much lower inertia, with the result that the rate of production of machines in which the comb is mounted can be increased. By virtue of its shape, the comb is endowed with a high degree of strength and rigidity and is thus very well suited to high-capacity intersecting machines of the high-speed type. The structure of the comb enables this latter in addition to withstand impacts and friction as well as bending stresses, especially by reason of the fact that the body and the lugs are formed in one piece. Since the comb is made of metal, the comb surface is not liable to be scratched by the various accessories and tools employed in the machines in which it is mounted moreover, the comb is not liable to induce static electricity as in needle bars of plastic material. In addition, since the needle bar has a metal body, the needles which are fixed therein have very high strength. Finally, this needle bar is relatively inexpensive to produce and may even be supplied in the form of a socalled disposable" bar in this case all the problems of re-fitting and repair on the users premises are avoided and this represents a considerable simplification since these operations are always highly timeconsuming, laborious and costly.

in one embodiment, the bonding agent which serves to anchor the needles is a light metal alloy, thereby permitting the possibility of fixing the needles in the body by means of conventional methods. In another embodiment, the bonding agent which serves to anchor the needles is a suitable plastic material of the resin type such as Nylon, for example, with the result that the needle bar can thus be endowed with the properties of conventional bars having a body of plastic material but does not have the disadvantage of producing static electricity since the resin is enclosed within the metal body.

In another particular form of construction, those portions of the die-stamped component which form the lugs and/or the heels have a higher degree of hardness than the remainder of said component as obtained by suitable treatment of the material which constitutes said component and which is suited to this purpose. As a result of a judicious choice of the starting material employed for the fabrication of the needle-bar body as well as the treatment to which the ends of this latter are subjected, the needle-bar lugs can be given any desired degree of hardness which .effectively guards against premature wear and the body can be given a permanent polish which is such as to prevent catching and subsequent winding of fibers of the material which is being processed. Needle bars which are made wholly of plastic material can clearly not provide this advantage.

The invention is also concerned with a method for the fabrication of a needle bar as hereinabove defined. This method consists in cutting-out a plate of sheet steel which has a generally rectangular shape and is widened at both ends, in folding the plate into a U along its longitudinal axis and die-stamping said plate by means of a rectilinear punch whose two ends form projections with respect to the remainder, in flattening by die-stamping the two ends of the component which has thus been folded in order to form the lugs and heels, in mounting the needles in the body and anchoring said needles therein by pouring a bonding agent.

A better understanding of the invention will be gained from the following description and from a study of the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of a comb according to the invention is shown by way of non-limitative example, and in which FIG. 1 shows in perspective one embodiment of a needle bar in accordance with the invention in which the central portion has been broken away 'FIGS. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional views taken respectively along lines 11-11 and IIIIII of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the equipment unit employed for shaping the body of the needle bar of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the punch of the equipment unit of FIG. 4

FIG. 6 is a front view of the equipment unit employed for shaping the heels and lugs of the needle bar;

FIG. 7 is a profile view corresponding to FIG. 6

FIG. 8 illustrates the sheet-steel plate employed for the fabrication of a needle bar FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the blank of a die-stamped needle-bar body, the central portion of which has been cut away.

The comb or needle bar for textile machines such as intersecting or gilling machines, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is essentially constituted by a rectilinear metal body 1 having a U-shaped cross-section in which needles 2 are anchored by means of a bonding agent 3 and which terminates at each extremity in a lug 5 and a guide heel 6 which are greater in height than said body and project only on the same side as the back of said body, that is to say downwards in FIG. 1.

The body 1, the lugs 5 and the heels 6 are formed in a single-piece component of die-stamped sheet metal from a plate 8 having a shape which is shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 1, this component has a U-shaped cross-section in the completed state. The end portions in which the lugs and heels are formed have a greater depth than the central portion as shown in particular in FIG. 3.

Each lug 5 is formed by part of one of the two walls of the component, namely the front wall in FIG. 1 which is flattened by compression against the other wall of the component. Each heel 6 is also obtained by flattening the two walls of the end portions of the component while at the same time giving these latter the conventional inclination which is suitable for ensuring that said component is. positioned correctly between the threads or the screws which drive the needle bar in translational motion.

Finally, the flattened portions of the component ends are secured to each other by means of spot welds 9.

In order to fabricate said needle bar, it is an advantage to make use of the equipment units which are illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 7.

FIG. 4 shows the complete assembly of a die 11 and a punch 12 which makes it possible from the plate 8 of FIG. 8 to obtain the stamped component which is illustrated in FIG. 9. The punchl2 is designed in the form of a rectangular member (as also shown in FIG. 5) whose two ends each have a downwardly projecting portion 13 and this latter is intended to form that portion of each of the two component ends which is drawn to the greatest depth for the purpose of forming the lugs and heels. There has been shown the punch 12 which is fixed in a punch-holder 15 by means of screws 16. The die 11 has a slit 17 whose width is equal to the thickness of the stamped component to be obtained, that is to say equal to the thickness of the punch 12 increased by twice the thickness of the plate 8. The plate 8 is positioned on top of the stamping die 11 by means of cleats 19. The equipment unit which is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 comprises a die 21 and the blank shown in FIG. 9 is intended to be placed on top of said die. The blank is positioned on the die by means of cleats 22. The punch 24 is fitted with strips 25 for stamping the guide lugs of the needle bars, the extremities of this punch and the top of the die being shaped for the purpose of forming the inclined end heels 6.

In order to fabricate the needle bar, the initial operation therefore consists in cutting-out a plate of sheet steel having a generally rectangular shape and enlarged ends as shown in FIG. 8. Said plate is then placed in the equipment unit of FIGS. 4 and 5 for folding in a first operation which results in a blank as illustrated in FIG. 9. In a second stamping operation, said blank is treated in the equipment unit of FIGS. 6 and 7 for the purpose of forming the lugs and heels. The formation of spot welds 9 completes the rigidity of the component and it then only remains necessary to mount and fix the needles 2 on said component by means of a suitable bonding agent such as plastic material or alternatively a light metal alloy.

A bonding agent can also be poured into the spaces 27 (shown in FIG. 1) which are formed between the guide lugs 5 and the heels 6.

As has been stated in the foregoing, the needle-bar body can be selected from a suitable metal which can be subjected to a treatment for increasing the hardness of the lugs and heels it is also possible to subject the external surface of the needle-bar body to a burnishing operation for preventing winding of textile fibers. Stainless steel can also be employed for this purpose.

As will readily be understood, the invention is not limited to the embodiment which has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and given by way of example it is wholly apparent that, depending on the applications which are contemplated, modifications can be made without thereby departing either from the scope or the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A comb for a textile machine, such as an intersecting or gilling machine, comprising a body formed of a longitudinally extending unitary sheet steel member folded over along a line extending in its elongated direction and providing a first side and a second side interconnected to and disposed opposite to one another with at least a portion of said fist and second sides located intermediate the opposite ends of said member in the longitudinal direction being spaced apart and forming an intermediate U-shaped portion having a longitudinally extending closed edge and an oppositely directed open edge, the opposite ends of said member in the longitudinal direction having a depth greater than the depth of said intermediate U-shaped portion so that said opposite ends project outwardly from the closed edge of said intermediate U-shaped portion, a first portion of said first side of said member at each said end which has an increased depth is deformed into contact with said second side forming a lug and a second portion of said first side of said member at each said end spaced from and on the opposite side of said first portion at said end from said intermediate U-shaped portion and a third portion on the oppositely disposed second side of said member are deformed inwardly into contact with the other forming a guide heel so that an end U-shaped portion is formed between each said lug and guide heel, a bonding agent contained within said intermediate U-shaped portion, and a plurality of needles spaced apart and secured within said intermediate U-shaped portion by said bonding agent with said needles projecting outwardly from the open edge of said intermediate U-shaped portion.

2. A comb, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ends of said body forming said lugs and said guide heels have a higher degree of hardness than said intermediate U- shaped portion thereof. 

1. A comb for a textile machine, such as an intersecting or gilling machine, comprising a body formed of a longitudinally extending unitary sheet steel member folded over along a line extending in its elongated direction and providing a first side and a second side interconnected to and disposed opposite to one another with at least a portion of said fist and second sides located intermediate the opposite ends of said member in the longitudinal direction being spaced apart and forming an intermediate U-shaped portion having a longitudinally extending closed edge and an oppositely directed open edge, the opposite ends of said member in the longitudinal direction having a depth greater than the depth of said intermediate U-shaped portion so that said opposite ends project outwardly from the closed edge of said intermediate U-shaped portion, a first portion of said first side of said member at each said end which has an increased depth is deformed into contact with said second side forming a lug and a second portion of said first side of said member at each said end spaced from and on the opposite side of said first portion at said end from said intermediate U-shaped portion and a third portion on the oppositely disposed second side of said member are deformed inwardly into contact with the other forming a guide heel so that an end U-shaped portion is formed between each said lug and guide heel, a bonding agent containEd within said intermediate U-shaped portion, and a plurality of needles spaced apart and secured within said intermediate U-shaped portion by said bonding agent with said needles projecting outwardly from the open edge of said intermediate U-shaped portion.
 2. A comb, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ends of said body forming said lugs and said guide heels have a higher degree of hardness than said intermediate U-shaped portion thereof. 